Apparatus for carbureting air with solid fuel



T. F. WILLIAMS} D. W. COY AND H. B. PRUDEN.

APPARATUS FOR CARBURETING AIR WITH SOLID FUEL. APPLICATION HLE D AUG.26. 1918.

1,385,412. Patented July 26, 1921.

v 2 SHEETS-SHEET l- T. F. WILLIAMS, 0. W. cm AND 'H..B. PR UDEN. APPARATUS FOR CARBURETING MR WITH SOLID FUEL.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.26,.I9I8- Patented July 26, 1921.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

-. air for the UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

I THOMAS F. WILLIAMS, DONALD W. COY, AiN'D HARRY PRUDEN, OF CHICAGO, ILLI- NOIS, ASSIGNOBS TO POWDERED COAL ENGINEERIN G AND EQUIPMENT COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

APPARATUS FOR CARBURETING AIR WITH SOLID FUEL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July so,- 192-1.

Application filed August 26, 1918. Serial No. 251,581.

W. CoY and HARRY B. PRUDEN, citizens of' the United States, all residing in Chicago, county of Cook, and State of Illinois, have invented certain newand useful Improvements in Apparatus for Carbureting Air with Solid Fuel, of which the following is a s ecification.

ur invention relates more specifically to the art of mixing finely divided fuel with urpose of combustion in furor this purpose it is necessary to suppl a continuous supply of air and powdere fuel which are mixed as near as may be in fixed proportions and fed to a naces, etc.

' burner. In the form of apparatus to which our invention is more particularly intended to be applied, powdered fuel is fed by means of aconveyer to a mixing a paratus. It is the purpose of this invention to provide means whereby the powdered fuel may be shipped and received at the point of con sumption in receptacles or containers, and the latter conveniently and quickly connected to the chute of the conveying mechanism will have a substantially continuous supply offuel. With this in view we employ containers of uniform character in which the powdered fuel is packed for ship ment to the point where it is to be used, and provide a small number of connecting funnels one of which is connected with each container preparatory to discharging the contents of the latter, and serve as a means for connecting it to the chute of the fuel mixing machine. The nature of the invention will appear from the drawings and the following description in which we have set forth in detail a preferred embodiment of our invention. It is to be understood, however, that the specific disclosure is for the purpose of exemplification only, and that the scope of the invention is defined in the following claims in which we have endeavored to distinguish it from the prior art without however, relinquishing or abandonin any portion or feature thereof.

Tn the accompanying drawings forming a part of this application, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a preferred form of the invensecured thereto.

" tion, parts, however, being broken away and shown in section; Fig. 2a perspective of the upper end of the chute of the machine, and the lower end of the funnel about to be attached thereto; Fig. 3 asection upon the line 3-3 of Fig. 1 on an-enlarged scale; and Fig. 4 a section of the same detail and on the same plane of section as Fig. 1 but on an enlar ed scale. ach part is identified by the same reference character wherever it occurs in the several views. 1

Referring first to Fig. 1, the chute of the machine is indicated at 5 as attached at 6-to the casing of the carbureter and communieating with the fuel chamber 7 through the bottom of which the screw conveyer 8 extends. As this specific mechanism forms no part of the present invention, it is not necessary to describe the coal conveying means further. The chute 5 is shown as a casting, the upper end or mouth of which is thickened or flanged as at 9, and receives a ring or annulus 10, which is riveted or otherwise The annulus 10 is formed with an inner flange 11, which sits in a rabbet 12, formed in the upper end of the casting and is provided with any suitable number of bayonet joint slots 13, here shown as four in number, said slots being located in the inner face of the annulus to receive corresponding pins 14, projecting outwardly from a flange 15, upon the funnel or intermediate member 16, by which the container 17 is attached to the chute.

The funnel 16 is formed of sheet metal,

and riveted to. a casting 18 which forms a,

described. Upon the casting is formed a cylindrical flange or apron 15, referred to above, which when the funnel or intermedi-' ate member is in position on the mouth of the chute, fits within the annulus 11 at the, top of the chute. In applying the flange member to the chute, the pins 14, are brought into registry with the vertical arms 19, of-the respective bayonet slots, whereupon the flange and casting drop until the flange rests 'upon the seatQO, in the upper end of said chute, see Fig. 1. Thls brings the pins to the bottoms of the vertical members of the respective bayonet slots, and into registry with the horizontal members 21 of said slots. By a slight rotation of the funnel member, the pins are carried into the horizontal members of the respective bayonet slots, and the structures thus firmly united.

As heretofore stated the container 17, em ployed in connection with our inventien, are of uniform construction, at 'least in so far as the outlets thereof are concerned, and adapted to have the flange members readily attached thereto. Preferably the containers are metallic barrels, as shown-in Fig. 1 of the drawings, in which the lip is provided with an external bead 22, WhlCh is utilized for the purpose of securing the funnel thereto. For this purpose the upper edge of each of the funnels is provided with a cast annulus 23,, of such internal diameter as to receive the head 22 therein, and said annulus is provided with a suitable number of thumb screws 24, the upper ends of which are ..dapted, when screwed inward, to take over said bead, and so look the barrel to the annulus, all as fully shown in Fig. 1. The

upper edge of the sheet metal funnel 16, is

flanged outwardly at 25, and is secured to annulus 23 .by means of a ring 26 and bolts tached thereto. In order to or rivets 27. The funnel is attached to and detached from the barrels by manipulating the screws in. anobvious manner.

When a barrel is to be mounted u n the carbureting apparatus to discharge its supply of powdered fuel, the head of the barrel is removed or opened and the funnel atprevent spilling or discharging part of the barrel is being put in position, we provide the casting. to which the lower end of the funnel is attached with a closure which remains closed until the funnel and barrel are in position on' the apparatus. For this purpose the casting 28 is provided with a pair of doors or shutters 29, 30, which are pivoted at the diameter of the casting upon a pivot rod 31-, and seat against an internal flange 32 upon said casting. Before the funnel is applied to the carbureting apparatus, the shutters are closed or held in closed positionby the latches 33, 34, respectively, a said latches bein position, the latches yielding for this pur-- pose under the camming action until they are passed. In order to automatically release these gates or shutters, the casting is formed with vertical bores 41, 42, which receive headed pins 43 44 the heads of which, when the bolts are thrust upward engaging -jectthrough the horizontal flange and the pressure of the finely divi ed fuel when the the lower edges of the respective latches at 45, 46. The lower ends of the pins, speaking with reference to the position in Fig. 1, pro- 47, of the casting which when the funnel is applied to the chute of the carbureter, rests upon upper face 48 of the mouth of the chute. The upper face 48 is provided with cam slots or recesses 49, which are so arranged that when the pins 14 register with the vertical limbs of the bayonet slots, the vertical sliding pins 41, 42 are in register with the deepest portions of the respective cam slots. Thus, when the funnel is first applied to the chute the pins 41, 42 are not disturbed. When however, the funnel is rotated to shift the pins 14 into the horizontal limbs of the respective bayonet slots, the sliding pins 41, 42 move along the cam slots and are forced upward thereby into contact with the latches 33, 34 respectively, to release the same from the gates. The latter then drop by avity,

material above them, and the coal in the container is then free to flow into the carbureting device. Thus by the very movement of securing the arts together, communication between the unnel and barrel on one hand and the apparatus on the other is established. The casting is also formed with an outer flan 50, which overlaps annulus 10 on the outside, and with hand holes and cover plates 51, 52 to provide access to the latches.

In a construction of the character just described, it is desirable that precaution be indication to the operator but which is held against, movement until the container is empty by the charge of .the latter. Preferably the alarm is mounted on the upper end of the chute, and in the specific construction shown, the casting 5 forming the upper end of the chute is formed or provided with an opening 52 which is covered by the housin 53, containing the motor of the alarm. PreE erably a rotary motor is employed, and in this lnstance we have illustrated a pneumatic motor comprising a wheel 54 mounted in said housing 53, and normally under pressure of air through an inlet 55 which may be connected with a source of air ressure such as that which supplies the air or mixing with the fuel. 56 represents an exhaust conduit which-may open to the air if desired. The housing 53 is formed with the lateral tubular extension 54, which is provided with bearings 55, 56 for the shaft 57 of the motor.

When the housing is in position on the cast- 13 ing 5, the sleeve or tubular extension 54 projects into the path of the fuel within the when rotated tok operate any kind 0 chute, and shaft is provided be ond the sleeve with a pairof paddles 58. he housing is closed by a cover plate 59.

lhe wheel or motor 54 being constantly under pressure of air will ten'd'to turn the I which may contain a bell, lamp, or'other indicating device.- A 'plu 60 of insulating material extends throug the axial opening 61 in the cover plate 59 and into the axial chamber 62 of the motor wheel. A contact post 63 extends through the insulating plug and is formed with a lateral arm 64 which extends beyond the insulating plug into chamber 62. The post 63 is connected at one end-into, a circuit alarm-by means of the set nuts-65 in the usual manner. chamber 62 is carried a metallic ball or roller 66, which, when the wheel is at rest occupies the lowermost position shown in dotted lines 66. The other end of the circuit is grounded on the machine, and when the wheel revolves the ball or roller 66 is carried up to the position shown in full lines in which it completes a circuit between the wheel and the contact post 63 operating the bell or other indicating device.

The operation of the invention will be readily understood from the foregoing description. When a fresh supply of powdered fuel is needed, a barrel is opened and a connecting funnel with its gates. closed is attached thereto by fitting it over the chime and turning the screws thereof under the bead. The barrel with the funnel attached thereto is then placed in inverted position on the supply chute of the mixing apparatus and turned until the pins projecting from the coupling casting on the funnel register with the upper ends of the bayonet slots on the chute. The barrel is then given a turn to bring said pins into the horizontal members of the respective bayonet slots or grooves to lock the funnel securely to the chute. The application of the funnel to the chute brings the latch operating pins in register with the deeper portion of the cam grooves in the upper face of the chute annulus. As the barrel is given the slight rotation described to lock it to the chute, the pins ride up the incline ends of the respective slots and engage the latches to withdraw them from beneath the respective gates. The latter will drop under the welght of the fuel which "6115 the chute.re-

Within the securing a package ceiving chamber of the mixing apparatus. The powdered coal in the chute closely surrounds the paddles of the alarm, preventing the rotation of the shaft and motor wheel .and the circuit closing ball'comes to'rest in its lowermost position in which the electric alarm circuit is open. As the supply of coal approaches exhaustion, it uncovers the paddles of the alarm permitting the shaft and wheel to rotate under the impulse of the blast of air, and the ball is again carried up to the circuit closing position operating then prepares to substitutea full barrel for the empty barrel by opening the former and applying the funnel thereto.

We claim:

1. In a device of the class described and in combination with the feedin means thereof, a chute delivering to sai feeding the bell or other alarm. The attendant means a funnel havin means for attachment to a package to e emptied into said chute, vmeans for closing said funnel, and means for removably attaching the funnel to the chute. p

2. In a device of the class described and in combination with the feeding means thereof, a chute connected to said feeding means, a funnel adapted to be removably secured to the chute, means on the funnel for thereto, and means for closing the funne adapted to be released 'by the attachment thereof to the chute.

p 3. Ina device of the class described and in combination with the feeding means thereof, a chute connected to said feeding means, a funnel-adapted to be connected to the chute, a closure for the funnel, a latch for maintaining the closure in the closed position adapted to be released by the application of the funnel to the chute, and means on the funnel for engaging a package of powdered material.

4. In a device of the class described and in combination with the feeding means thereof, a chute, a funnel adapted to be secured to the chute, by a rotative movement relative thereto, cam surfaces on said chute, gates in the funnel, latches for maintaining said gates closed, means operated by said cam surfaces for releasing the latches.

5. In a device of the class described and in combination with the feeding means thereof, a chute connected to said feeding means, a funnel adapted to be secured to the chute by a rotative movement relative thereto, cam surfaces on said chute, gates in the funnel, pivoted latches for maintaining said gates closed, and pins adapted to be engaged by the cam surfaces to lock the latches when the funnel is rotated.

6. In a device of the class described and in combination with the feeding means and chute thereof, bayonet joint slots at the entrance end of said chute, a funnel having ins on its lower end adapted to enter said -on the chute engaging the respective'pins Bayonet slots and to be secured therein by to move the latter and operate the respective a partial rotation of the funnel, swinging latches when the funnel is given a partial 10 gates in the funnel, pivoted slots for mainrotation to secure it to the chute.

5- taining said gates closed, vertically mov- THOMAS F. WILLIAMS;

able pins engaging the slots for swinging DONALD W. COY.

the same out of engaging position, and cams I HARRY B. PRUDEN. 

